Tourists must take responsibility for themselves, India warns after two Britons found dead in Goa in two weeks

Last updated at 11:12 05 March 2008

Tourists have been warned to take more responsibility for their own safety after two Britons were found dead in the Indian holiday resort of Goa in just two weeks.

Manchester man Michael Harvey, 34, was found dead on Sunday in a backpacker shack at a remote palm-fringed beach notorious for drugs-fuelled rave parties - just two weeks after Devon schoolgirl Scarlett Keeling's body was found on a Goa beach.

An autopsy report revealed that Harvey had died from a pulmonary and cerebral oedema, but detectives are now investigating whether drugs or violence could have played a part in his death.

His body was found the morning after he checked in to Ben's Inn on Aswem beach. He was the tenth Briton to die in Goa this year.

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'No accident': Scarlett Keeling's body was found half-naked and with ante-mortem injuries

Digambar Kamat, the Indian state's chief minister, said foreign women ought to avoid "insecure places" and should not expect to wander around at night without fear of the consequences.

Mr Kamat told the Times newspaper: "Foreign tourists have to be careful. They can't just do these things and blame the government for the consequences.

"You can't expect the government to provide police on the beaches after midnight."

This week Scarlett's mother insisted a mystery Briton had witnessed her daughter's sexual assault and murder, and pleaded with the man - who she claimed had fled Goa in fear for his life - to come forward.

The deaths come as the British High Commission reported that 10 British citizens had died in Goa this year alone, four of them from unnatural causes.

Revellers on Aswem Beach, where Michael Harvey died

It said that 40 British citizens died in Goa in 2007 from both natural and unnatural causes, but did not have a precise breakdown of the figures, according to The Times.

Scarlett's Fiona MacKeown, 43, has forced Indian police to reopen an investigation into her daughter's death after it was initially dismissed as a case of drowning.

The 15-year-old's body was found naked except for a bikini top pulled up to expose her breasts on Anjuna beach above the high tide line.

After publicity following her daughter's death, Mrs MacKeown claims to have received emails suggesting a British man witnessed the violent assault on Scarlett.

"This tourist was so shocked to see the intensity of the assault and felt so helpless to assist my daughter, that he informed two of his friends the details of the assault and immediately left Goa in fear of his life and liberty," said Mrs MacKeown.

"We urge him to come forward because this information could be vital to the case," she reportedly pleaded.

Claiming police had consistently lied in a bid to cover up her daughter's murder, Mrs MacKeown claims to have uncovered evidence suggesting she was sexually assaulted before being killed.

A post-mortem investigation found sand in Scarlett's mouth but little water in her lungs.

"The fact is that my daughter did not drown in the sea but died of asphyxia when her face was pushed into the sand by her assailants," said Mrs MacKeown.

"The body of my daughter was found on the sand and not in the sea, as falsely stated by the police.

"Her body was found naked, yet the police informed me she was in her swimwear.

"There are a large number of abrasions on her body, yet the police tried their best to convince me as well as the media that the body did not have any abrasions. They have lied all the way through."

Scarlett, from Bideford, Devon, had been on a six-month backpacking holiday with her mother, her mother's partner Rob and her six brothers and sisters, arriving in Goa on November 22.

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Evil inder the sun: Anjuna Beach in Goa has a seedy underside

After fighting for the truth behind her daughter's death, Mrs MacKeown believes it is even possible police were involved in Scarlett's rape and murder.

She said: "Three weeks back an Australian female tourist was relaxing in the south Anjuna Beach after dark. She did not possess any contraband but was bodily searched and then raped by men in uniform.

"When she went to the police station in Anjuna the duty officer dissuaded her from lodging a complaint, explaining that such a complaint would cause huge harassment to her before she could get justice. She left the country without officially reporting the matter.

"A large number of tourists from countries including England, Italy, Germany, Australia and France have shared their experiences with me, verbally and on email."

Scarlett was last seen alive with two "unsavoury characters" at Lui's Cafe on south Anjuna beach at 4am of February 18. Her body was still warm when discovered nearby at 6.30am.

Describing her daughter as a typical teenager, Mrs MacKeown told how Scarlett had fallen into a holiday romance with a local tour guide.

The 25-year-old guide, Julio Lobo, started taking Scarlett out to parties and on boat trips, leading to a series of family rows.

Claims by Indian police that initial tests on Scarlett's body showed no signs of foul play and that she had died from drowning have been rubbished by her family.

Family friend Dakini Runningbear said: "The death of Scarlett was not a death by drowning as reported by the police.

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'Cover-up': Scarlett's mother, Fiona MacKeown, says it is 'strange' that police have recorded Scarlett's body as having been found floating in the sea when it was discovered above the high-tide mark

"The police, in full knowledge of the facts of her death, have lied to the press when they said there were no abrasions or assault on her body, and that the cause of death was drowning in the sea.

"They have lied to Scarlett's mother and they have lied to the media.

"The autopsy report, while exposing the lies of the police, discloses five abrasions on Scarlett's body.

"The fact is there are nearly 50 abrasions covering the body, including the genitalia area."

Mrs MacKeown added: "The body was found lying in the sand above the line of high tide. The only garment on her was a bikini top that had been pulled up to expose her breasts.

"It is strange that the police have recorded the body to have been floating in the sea.

"Scarlett was an excellent swimmer and accustomed to the rough and turbulent Devon sea. I find it hard to believe she could have drowned accidentally in the tranquil Goa waters."

Other recent murders of British tourists in India include:

• Adrian Duggan was found guilty in 2005 of killing his girlfriend on Christmas Day in 2003 while on holiday in Goa. Duggan maintains that the couple were attacked by an intruder.

• Mike Blakey, a 23-year-old charity worker, was found battered to death in Dharamsala, northern India, on November 29, 2006. His body was found under a pile of rocks.

• Stephen Bennett was beaten to death by a gang of men and found hanging from a mango tree in Roha after travelling from Goa in December 2006.

• Denise Higgins, a 52-year-old British citizen of Indian descent, was found in a pool of blood with a kitchen knife protruding from her neck in April 2007. She was building a house in Goa and planned to settle there. The suspect is a local man whom she had befriended.